Bearskin

by The Brothers Grimm

　　THERE was once a young fellow who enlisted as a soldier, conducted himselfbravely, and was always the foremost when it rained bullets. So long asthe war lasted, all went well, but when peace was made, he received hisdismissal, and the captain said he might go where he liked. His parentswere dead, and he had no longer a home, so he went to his brothers andbegged them to take him in, and keep him until war broke out again. Thebrothers, however, were hard-hearted and said, "What can we do withthee? thou art of no use to us; go and make a living for thyself." Thesoldier had nothing left but his gun; he took that on his shoulder, andwent forth into the world. He came to a wide heath, on which nothingwas to be seen but a circle of trees; under these he sat sorrowfullydown, and began to think over his fate. "I have no money," thought he,"I have learnt no trade but that of fighting, and now that they have madepeace they don't want me any longer; so I see beforehand that I shallhave to starve." All at once he heard a rustling, and when he lookedround, a strange man stood before him, who wore a green coat and lookedright stately, but had a hideous cloven foot. "I know already what thouart in need of," said the man; "gold and possessions shall thou have,as much as thou canst make away with do what thou wilt, but first Imust know if thou art fearless, that I may not bestow my money in vain.""A soldier and fear — how can those two things go together?" he answered;"thou canst put me to the proof." "Very well, then," answered the man,"look behind thee." The soldier turned round, and saw a large bear,which came growling towards him. "Oho!" cried the soldier, "I will ticklethy nose for thee, so that thou shalt soon lose thy fancy for growling,"and he aimed at the bear and shot it through the muzzle; it fell down andnever stirred again. "I see quite well," said the stranger, "that thou artnot wanting in courage, but there is still another condition which thouwilt have to fulfil." "If it does not endanger my salvation," repliedthe soldier, who knew very well who was standing by him. "If it does,I'll have nothing to do with it." "Thou wilt look to that for thyself,"answered Greencoat; "thou shalt for the next seven years neither washthyself, nor comb thy beard, nor thy hair, nor cut thy nails, nor sayone paternoster. I will give thee a coat and a cloak, which during thistime thou must wear. If thou diest during these seven years, thou artmine; if thou remainest alive, thou art free, and rich to boot, for allthe rest of thy life." The soldier thought of the great extremity inwhich he now found himself, and as he so often had gone to meet death,he resolved to risk it now also, and agreed to the terms. The Devil tookoff his green coat, gave it to the soldier, and said, "If thou hast thiscoat on thy back and puttest thy hand into the pocket, thou wilt alwaysfind it full of money." Then he pulled the skin off the bear and said,"This shall be thy cloak, and thy bed also, for thereon shalt thou sleep,and in no other bed shalt thou lie, and because of this apparel shaltthou be called Bearskin." After this the Devil vanished.

　　The soldier put the coat on, felt at once in the pocket, and found thatthe thing was really true. Then he put on the bearskin and went forthinto the world, and enjoyed himself, refraining from nothing that didhim good and his money harm. During the first year his appearance waspassable, but during the second he began to look like a monster. Hishair covered nearly the whole of his face, his beard was like a pieceof coarse felt, his fingers had claws, and his face was so coveredwith dirt that if cress had been sown on it, it would have come up.Whosoever saw him, ran away, but as he everywhere gave the poor moneyto pray that he might not die during the seven years, and as he paidwell for everything he still always found shelter. In the fourth year,he entered an inn where the landlord would not receive him, and wouldnot even let him have a place in the stable, because he was afraid thehorses would be scared. But as Bearskin thrust his hand into his pocketand pulled out a handful of ducats, the host let himself be persuadedand gave him a room in an outhouse. Bearskin was, however, obliged topromise not to let himself be seen, lest the inn should get a bad name.

　　As Bearskin was sitting alone in the evening, and wishing from the bottomof his heart that the seven years were over, he heard a loud lamenting ina neighboring room. He had a compassionate heart, so he opened the door,and saw an old man weeping bitterly, and wringing his hands. Bearskinwent nearer, but the man sprang to his feet and tried to escape fromhim. At last when the man perceived that Bearskin's voice was human helet himself be prevailed on, and by kind words bearskin succeeded sofar that the old man revealed the cause of his grief. His property haddwindled away by degrees, he and his daughters would have to starve,and he was so poor that he could not pay the innkeeper, and was to beput in prison. "If that is your only trouble," said Bearskin, "I haveplenty of money." He caused the innkeeper to be brought thither, paidhim and put a purse full of gold into the poor old man's pocket besides.

　　When the old man saw himself set free from all his troubles he did notknow how to be grateful enough. "Come with me," said he to Bearskin;"my daughters are all miracles of beauty, choose one of them for thyselfas a wife. When she hears what thou hast done for me, she will not refusethee. Thou dost in truth look a little strange, but she will soon put theeto rights again." This pleased Bearskin well, and he went. When the eldestsaw him she was so terribly alarmed at his face that she screamed and ranaway. The second stood still and looked at him from head to foot, but thenshe said, "How can I accept a husband who no longer has a human form? Theshaven bear that once was here and passed itself off for a man pleased mefar better, for at any rate it wore a hussar's dress and white gloves. Ifit were nothing but ugliness, I might get used to that." The youngest,however, said, "Dear father, that must be a good man to have helped youout of your trouble, so if you have promised him a bride for doing it,your promise must be kept." It was a pity that Bearskin's face was coveredwith dirt and with hair, for if not they might have seen how delighted hewas when he heard these words. He took a ring from his finger, broke itin two, and gave her one half, the other he kept for himself. He wrotehis name, however, on her half, and hers on his, and begged her to keepher piece carefully, and then he took his leave and said, "I must stillwander about for three years, and if I do not return then, thou art free,for I shall be dead. But pray to God to preserve my life."

　　The poor betrothed bride dressed herself entirely in black, and when shethought of her future bridegroom, tears came into her eyes. Nothing butcontempt and mockery fell to her lot from her sisters. "Take care," saidthe eldest, "if thou givest him thy hand, he will strike his claws intoit." "Beware!" said the second. "Bears like sweet things, and if he takesa fancy to thee, he will eat thee up." "Thou must always do as he likes,"began the elder again, "or else he will growl." And the second continued,"But the wedding will be a merry one, for bears dance well." The bridewas silent, and did not let them vex her. Bearskin, however, travelledabout the world from one place to another, did good where he was able,and gave generously to the poor that they might pray for him.

　　At length, as the last day of the seven years dawned, he went once moreout on to the heath, and seated himself beneath the circle of trees. Itwas not long before the wind whistled, and the Devil stood before himand looked angrily at him; then he threw Bearskin his old coat, andasked for his own green one back. "We have not got so far as that yet,"answered Bearskin, "thou must first make me clean." Whether the Devilliked it or not, he was forced to fetch water, and wash Bearskin, combhis hair, and cut his nails. After this, he looked like a brave soldier,and was much handsomer than he had ever been before.

　　When the Devil had gone away, Bearskin was quite lighthearted. He wentinto the town, put on a magnificent velvet coat, seated himself in acarriage drawn by four white horses, and drove to his bride's house. Noone recognized him, the father took him for a distinguished general,and led him into the room where his daughters were sitting. He wasforced to place himself between the two eldest, they helped him towine, gave him the best pieces of meat, and thought that in all theworld they had never seen a handsomer man. The bride, however, satopposite to him in her black dress, and never raised her eyes, norspoke a word. When at length he asked the father if he would give himone of his daughters to wife, the two eldest jumped up, ran into theirbedrooms to put on splendid dresses, for each of them fancied she wasthe chosen one. The stranger, as soon as he was alone with his bride,brought out his half of the ring, and threw it in a glass of wine whichhe reached across the table to her. She took the wine, but when she haddrunk it, and found the half ring lying at the bottom, her heart began tobeat. She got the other half, which she wore on a ribbon round her neck,joined them, and saw that the two pieces fitted exactly together. Thensaid he, "I am thy betrothed bridegroom, whom thou sawest as Bearskin,but through God's grace I have again received my human form, and haveonce more become clean." He went up to her, embraced her, and gaveher a kiss. In the meantime the two sisters came back in full dress,and when they saw that the handsome man had fallen to the share of theyoungest, and heard that he was Bearskin, they ran out full of anger andrage. One of them drowned herself in the well, the other hanged herselfon a tree. In the evening, some one knocked at the door, and when thebridegroom opened it, it was the Devil in his green coat, who said,"Seest thou, I have now got two souls in the place of thy one!"